Title Chapter 1: What I Learned about School Reform
pp. 1-14
Summary
Diane Ravitch is an educational historian who has been on the forefront of federal educational reform efforts for the past three decades. In this chapter, she sets the stage for changing her mind about many of these efforts and explaining her criticisms of several of the current efforts to improve schools. The chapter is a walk through the main writings of her career. The purpose of this "tour" is to establish her credentials for what she is about to say later in the book as well as to provide historical context for many of today's reform efforts.
Notes
The task of repainting her home office gave the author a chance to ruminate over how her views on educational reform had changed over her career so far.
Intellectual crisis: Views on educational reform, once centered on potential of acceptability, testing, choice and markets, was now accompanied by doubt.
Patterns from previous writing:
Skepticism about pedagogical fads, enthusiasm, and movements
Have permeated history of education in the US
Are with us now, e.g. market reforms, etc.
Common view of school reformers: They have solution to (simple) problem of improving schools.
Ravitch: Consistently warned against shortcuts, utopias, and silver bullets.
Deep belief in the value of a rich, coherent school curriculum, especially in history and literature.
Career Retrospective
1968 – Urban Review – “Programs, Placebos, and Panaceas.”
Conflict between utopian promise and gritty reality.
1960 – Foundations: Playing God in the Ghetto
Mega-rich foundations taking charge of reforming public schools w/o accountability.
1974 – The Great School Wars: New Your City 1805-1973.
Pull toward and then away from school centralization in NY
1978 – The Revisionists Revised: A Critique of the Radical Attack on Schools
Schools are the “primary mechanism through which a democratic society gives its citizens the opportunity the attain literacy and social mobility.” (p. 6)
1985 – The Troubled Crusade – American Education 1945-1980
Period of significant cultural change
1987 – What Do Our 17-Year-Olds Know?
Importance of curriculum
First test of knowledge of literature and history.
How can you reject a canon you do not know?
1985 – Assisted in drafting History Framework for State of California
1991 – Invited to join Bush administration in Dept of Education
Used modest federal funding to encourage development of “voluntary” curricular standards in history, the arts, geography, civics, science, economics, foreign languages, and English.
Lack of congressional approval limited effectiveness and longevity of project.
While the Republican administration could tolerate standards, its real focus was on increasing the amount of school choice parents had access to. Ravitch saw increasing the amount of choice as strengthening the need for curricular standards.
After her stint at DOE, Ravitch because a proponent of of managerial and structural changes of schools, e.g. choice, charters, merit pay, and accountability.
Immersed in a world of “true believers,” author began to think that the business-minded reformers were “on to something important.” (8)
These reforms were also championed by both Bush and Clinton (“the New Democrats”).
“The new thinking – now ensconced in both parties – saw the public school system as obsolete, because it is controlled by the government and burdened by bureaucracy. Government-run schools, said a new generation of refomers, are ineffective because they are a monopoly; as such, they have no incentive to do better, and they serve the interests of adults who work in the system, not children.” p. 9
The optimism for applying market forces to schools led to a bipartisan enthusiasm for charter schools where school leaders could hire the best teachers, institute programs w/o a lot of oversight (meddling) and be judged solely on their results.
At the heart of the charter schools movement was the implicit notion that schools of the future would function without teacher unions.
Ravitch began to understand how policymakers must think.
Must be able to “see like a state.” (10)
Make decisions that affect people w/o constituents getting to vote on each piece.
It is the job of representative government to make decisions on behalf of constituents.
Successful policy changes come from:
seeking a mix of new and old ideas.
proponents who can advance their ideas through a gauntlet of checks and balances.
plans need to be explained and publicly reviewed.
champions who can persuade others.
Market reforms for education have natural appeal
“bringing improvements through an unknown force.”
lets leaders “off the hook” by allowing them to concentrate on incentives and sanctions and not worry about children, or specific interventions that address nasty problems.
Corporate reformers betray a weak understanding of education when they draw comparisons between education and business.
1999 – Author because founding member of Koret Task Force
Stanford group supporting educational reforms based on the principles of standards, accountability, and choice.
Reactions - 2011
Chapter one describes the thesis of the author, including her personal background and experiences as an educator. This chapter serves as an introduction for the reader, reflecting her views on the reform standards of schools in America. She establishes the foundation for the remainder of the book and reveals her honest perspective on the successes or failures of our school systems. Ravitch's experiences make her well-qualified to write about this controversial subject matter. Her admitting of her changed viewpoints also displays her truthful nature, providing credibility as an author. Her narrative is not so much factual as it is personal and passionate. Ravitch entices her audience to want to read the rest of her book with her inspiring writing style and the intriguing content provided in her initial chapter.
Title Chapter 1: What I Learned about School Reform
Summary
Diane Ravitch is an educational historian who has been on the forefront of federal educational reform efforts for the past three decades. In this chapter, she sets the stage for changing her mind about many of these efforts and explaining her criticisms of several of the current efforts to improve schools. The chapter is a walk through the main writings of her career. The purpose of this "tour" is to establish her credentials for what she is about to say later in the book as well as to provide historical context for many of today's reform efforts.Notes
Career Retrospective
“The new thinking – now ensconced in both parties – saw the public school system as obsolete, because it is controlled by the government and burdened by bureaucracy. Government-run schools, said a new generation of refomers, are ineffective because they are a monopoly; as such, they have no incentive to do better, and they serve the interests of adults who work in the system, not children.” p. 9
Reactions - 2011
Chapter one describes the thesis of the author, including her personal background and experiences as an educator. This chapter serves as an introduction for the reader, reflecting her views on the reform standards of schools in America. She establishes the foundation for the remainder of the book and reveals her honest perspective on the successes or failures of our school systems. Ravitch's experiences make her well-qualified to write about this controversial subject matter. Her admitting of her changed viewpoints also displays her truthful nature, providing credibility as an author. Her narrative is not so much factual as it is personal and passionate. Ravitch entices her audience to want to read the rest of her book with her inspiring writing style and the intriguing content provided in her initial chapter.